Flickr Widget

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

The best laid schemes

In the words of the poet Robert Burns, for whom I have an affinity, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." In Texanese (or Texlish, if you prefer, and I'm guessing in most of your translations too, unless you prefer the 1745 Scottish dialect) that line would read "The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry."

However, I just realized that the plan for my clock wall went pretty darn well, even though I had forgotten that I had a plan. Huh? What does that mean?

I was looking at an altogether unrelated post a few minutes ago when a picture of a George Nelson eye clock showed up under You Might Also Like. The title of the post was "My Clock Quandary." I honestly didn't remember writing that post, so I clicked on the thumbnail to check it out.

It turns out that I had written that post in July of 2011...well over a year ago...about wanting a clock wall made up entirely of George Nelson designs. I had also written "Hold My Place" the following October about using reproduction pieces as place holders till I could find vintage clocks at a price I can afford.

Trust me, when you post daily for over two years, you don't remember everything you've written. Apparently my sub-conscious hadn't forgotten the posts though, because these were the clocks I used as examples of some of the ones I might choose:


Model #2238, the Eye Clock

Model #2239, the Spindle or Spool Clock

Model #2202, the Sunburst Clock

Model #2227, the Star Clock

Model #2261, the Sunflower Clock

Model #4756, the Steering Wheel Clock

Model #4775, the Pretzel Clock

Model #7552, one of the many Meridian designs

Model #7513-a, the Petal Clock

Model #7512, teak with birch markers


And this is the clock wall I put together:




Oddly enough, I recently made three offers on a steering wheel clock on eBay, but I must have insulted the seller. The first offer received a counter, but the other two weren't officially refused, just allowed to expire without any response at all. My motto has always been, "All they can do is say no." I guess they can just ignore you too. As a result, I went with the ball clock and have one clock on the wall that wasn't on my original list.

The only other variation from my original-but-forgotten plan is that I didn't put them in the spot I had initially picked out and had to buy more clocks than I first intended.

The wall is a great deal busier than I expected it to be, and I'm somewhat overwhelmed by it, but it's growing on me. Most of you who commented on my post about redecorating seemed to like the clock wall, so I'll give it a little more time. (That pun was accidental, really...but it's so bad it's almost funny, so I won't delete and rewrite.)

9 comments:

  1. Dana, I adore your clock wall! It's just fantastic. I have a handmade version of the starburst (Mr. Retro, of course) and love it. A clock wall never occurred to me, great idea and just perfect over your new sofa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Pam. I'd love to see a picture of your starburst clock sometime. Mr. Retro is so handy to have around!

      Delete
  2. I only have eyes for that spindle clock! I really need a starburst clock but never have found a working one that I really liked, you have such a great collection.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess the ones I ended up with were somehow burned into my brain. It's interesting how the mind stores a To Do list on wrinkly, gray matter. :)

      Delete
  3. They're all awesome and I really like the wall.
    If after a while you still find it too busy, perhaps a smaller grouping of three might work?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The original plan was to put three on a smaller wall, but when I decided to put them behind an 83" sofa, it was necessary to buy more. For a couple of years, I had a long, low painting behind the sofa, which I sold when I started redecorating, so I've just had blank wall over the sofa for a while. Going from blank wall to clock wall has taken some getting used to, but it's starting to grow on me. :)

      Delete
  4. Hah! I remember our whole Foundry clock ordeal, Dana. Seems like you've got quite a collection going. Personally, I'm not to fussed about getting a real Nelson and replacing my replicas. Those Verichron/Kirch ones are pretty darn close to the real deal and soooooo much cheaper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nick, I agree. I'm not spending a fortune on the real thing...or even one from Vitra. If I find one at an unbelievably low price, of course I'll pick it up, like I did the house bird, but I look at my clock wall as being more of a novelty decorator thing than a real collection. I also agree that these repros are pretty decent. I've noticed that Vitra changed the colors of the hands on some of their models, so by the time you look at pictures of real Nelson clocks, Vitra clocks, Verichron and Kirch, most people don't have a real clue what's real and what's not.

      Even though the Verichron and Kirch clocks are a lot cheaper than the original Howard Millers or the Vitras, you can still have a pretty good chunk invested even in repros. An original or a Vitra costs several hundred dollars or even into the thousands, and I'd rather spend that on good mid-century furniture than on a single clock.

      Delete
  5. I just wandered across this post tonight. If I had researched on your blog ahead of time, I would have saved some money. Of course Dana has information on atomic clocks.

    ReplyDelete